Education WeekLess than 2 percent of school-aged students with disabilities — about 85,000 of them in fall 2016 — are enrolled by their parents in private schools, according to records maintained by the federal government. But the education of those students, including their rights under federal law and the resources available to them, has taken on an outsized importance since Betsy DeVos was appointed U.S. secretary of education under the Trump administration.READ MORE

By: Scott E. Rupp (commentary) Lead contamination in U.S. schools is more pervasive than previously thought, new water testing results from 20 states say. The data was published in an interactive map by Environment America and U.S. PIRG in June. The map shows several states where more than half of schools tested found some level of lead. These confirmed cases of contamination are likely only the tip of the iceberg, Environment America said in a statement.READ MORE

PBS NewshourThough it's an American tradition, not every school takes a long summer break. About 4 percent in the U.S. use a "balanced" calendar that operates year-round, sometimes to manage overcrowding but also to boost student achievement with more consistent education. Special correspondent Lisa Stark of Education Week reports on the pros and cons for students, families and schools.READ MORE

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In an effort to enhance the overall content of THE LD SOURCE, we'd like to include peer-written articles in future editions. As a member of LDA and/or reader of THE LD SOURCE, your knowledge of learning disabilities and related issues lends itself to unprecedented expertise. And we're hoping you'll share this expertise with your peers through well-written commentary. Because of the digital format, there's no word or graphical limit. Our group of talented editors can help with final edits. If you're interested in participating, please contact Ronnie Richard to discuss logistics.

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The Kansas City StarThree years ago, Frieda Tresvan stumbled upon a Facebook video describing symptoms that perfectly matched her son. Antonio struggled to grasp the sounds letters make. He could write only about half the letters in the alphabet. He had fallen behind his peers in the second grade in the Kansas City, Kansas, school district. She suddenly suspected he had dyslexia.READ MORE

Education WeekIn a watershed moment for his administration on education policy, President Donald Trump signed the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, according to senators who attended the signing, the first legislation Trump's signed that makes significant changes to federal education law itself. The legislation is a reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, a $1.2 billion program last overhauled by Congress in 2006.READ MORE

eSchool NewsWith 10 million students in grades K-12 struggling to read, taking those struggling readers from disengaged to enthused may seem like a huge feat. However, doing just one thing to take action can cause a wave of reaction throughout the entire school. In a recent edWebinar, Nelda Reyes, a dyslexia interventionist at De Zavala Elementary in San Marcos, Texas, Consolidated Independent School District, shared how she was able to establish a culture of reading at her school by creating a sense of belonging, building awareness, and never taking no for an answer.READ MORE

School Leaders NowDo you know who creates strong readers? We do. Every time school community members model reading, they influence students to be readers, too. Launching a school-wide fluency challenge in the primary grades could be the game-changer you need to build literate students. Modeling fluency is a key component of strong reading skills. But fluency is not just about reading more quickly. Rather, fluent readers use a combination of skills every time they read. Setting up a school-wide fluency challenge at your school can help teachers assess fluency while readers practice it with authentic purpose.READ MORE

The Brookings InstitutionWe make use of matched birth-school administrative data from Florida, coupled with an extensive survey of instructional policies and practices, to observe which policies and practices are associated with improved test performance for relatively advantaged students in a school, for relatively disadvantaged students in a school, for both and for neither. READ MORE

By: Brian Stack (commentary) A recent Mind/Shift article by Katrina Schwartz highlighted the efforts by San Francisco middle school principal Michael Essien to get classroom behavior under control in his school. Essien's story touched me personally as I too shared his frustrations. Over the last 10 years as a school administrator, I have seen a dramatic decline in classroom disruptions and general student misbehavior that I believe is correlated to increased student engagement in school. READ MORE

District Administration MagazineWith almost all state plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act now approved by the U.S. Department of Education, the question related to school improvement isn't so much what works to help low-performing schools, but how to implement strategies in the most effective way, a panel of speakers said Tuesday on the second day of the National Conference of State Legislatures' summit in Los Angeles.READ MORE

Edutopia (commentary)Nina Parrish, a contributor for Edutopia, writes: "As a former middle school special education teacher and current tutor of middle and high school students, I often work with older children who struggle immensely with reading and writing tasks. This issue impacts them in every academic area and, if not addressed, can eventually affect their motivation to learn and to come to school. Many students I work with receive extra support in their English or language arts class, but then are on their own or receive less support in their other academic classes."READ MORE